Ahead of Time to Talk Day, West Ham United players Vladímir Coufal, Conor Coventry and Divin Mubama visited Jo Richardson Community School for a session with the West Ham United Foundation’s Premier League Inspires participants focusing on mental health.
Run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, Time to Talk Day is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation, aimed at reducing mental health stigma and discrimination. The campaign is all about creating supportive communities by having conversations with family, friends, or colleagues about mental health.
“I believe it’s so important speak out about your problems,” said Mubama. “If you don’t, they’re only going to keep building in your mind. Growing up with West Ham, the Club and the staff have been very good at checking in and talking about things, even outside of football.”
Through the Players’ Project, the Club took part in the initiative by hosting a mental health workshop with the players and students from the Foundation’s Premier League Inspires programme. Aimed at supporting vulnerable, at risk, and struggling students, Premier League Inspires provides secondary schools with an engaging curriculum and mentoring sessions to support them with their personal and academic development.
“We’ve been partnered up with West Ham and the Foundation for over three years,” said Assistant Head Teacher Becky Simpson. “Some of the kids from today’s session have been on the programme from the very start. It’s brilliant because the support they receive is ongoing. The Foundation has been amazing at continuing the mentoring. The impact on some of the students’ behaviour has been fantastic.
“We always stress at this school that every kid has to have somebody that they trust, and we do everything we can to build those positive relationships. We also recognise that we might not always be the best placed people and that's why we seek support externally through Foundation mentoring. Sharing the problems you might be facing and being given solutions from somebody who may have experienced them or have different insights is so important.”
The players’ visit to the school in Dagenham was an opportunity for students to hear from successful role models speak openly about the struggles they face and how they go about dealing with them.
“Professional sport is a really difficult environment,” said Coventry. “One week you could train really well, have a great game, and then the next week you might have a tough time, play badly, and then you’re not in the team. It’s a constant battle. Everyone has their own struggles, but as long as you have a good support network around you and make use of it, that’s the best way to deal with it.
“In your own head, you tend to think something is worse than it is. If you speak to someone and share your problems, they can offer a different perspective and it turns out the situation wasn’t exactly how you felt it. It’s so important to speak to people because there will be so many people that want to help you and see you succeed.”
As ambassador for the Health & Wellbeing strand of the Players’ Project, Coufal also spoke out about the importance of reaching out to people you trust when going through tough times.
“If you’re going through problems, it’s very important to speak to someone,” added Coufal. “I’d never advise to sort a problem out on your own in your mind. You can get stuck in your own head and the problem can grow so it’s very important to talk to someone you trust, whether that be a parent, a friend or an older sibling.”
The students found the raw and honest observations from the players about the challenges they face in elite sport and how they make use of their support networks extremely validating and were keen to highlight the informative and enlightening nature of the session.
“It was a really good experience, I thought what the players said was interesting and relatable,” added Lexi. “I work with my Foundation mentor every Wednesday. I’ve been through quite a lot and Wednesdays are the highlight of my week, because I know I can sit down, talk to them about anything I want and If I come in angry or upset, they never fail to change that and make me happy. When we speak, I get it off my chest. It’s so much better having someone to talk to.”
To find out more about Mind and Rethink Mental Illness’ campaign, search ‘Time to Talk’ or visit their websites.
For more information on the Foundation’s Premier League Inspires delivery, please contact Cormac Hanrahan at [email protected].